


that one where roy gets automail

by notEriX



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: M/M, hughes will probably be in here at some point, you've probably noticed by now that i'm bad at titles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-23 01:35:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6100507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notEriX/pseuds/notEriX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>wow. such title. many creative.</p>
<p>basically i wanted my smol flem son to have automail. and yes, i actually call him that. it's my tag for him on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	that one where roy gets automail

**Author's Note:**

> this probably won't get updated very fast. whoops. i only have the one chapter written for now.
> 
> there's some description of burn wounds. also i am completely ignoring the advancement of medical technology on purpose. please don't bitch about the inaccuracies haha

"Shh. Do you hear that?" Roy whispered to Ed as they positioned themselves on either side of the corner of a hallway. There was a scuffling sound coming from around the corner. Ed nodded once and pressed himself flat against the wall. His automail thumped on the floor when he moved to look around the corner, and the scuffling noise stopped. Ed and Roy shared a worried look before the space between them erupted into flames.   
  
The two men bolted forward and ran out into the main room of the warehouse. There were crates scattered around the room, and Roy and Ed ducked behind one. There was no noise aside from their panting.   
  
"The Detonation Alchemist is more dangerous than I remember," Roy tried to regulate his breathing as he spoke, peeling of his singed gloves.   
  
"Gee, really? I hadn't noticed." Ed glared at his former CO and leaned down to rub at his leg where the automail was attached. "I think I fucked up my leg," he said.   
  
Roy leaned left to look around the crate, but couldn't see much in the darkness of the warehouse. Suddenly, the top half of the crate burst into flames. Roy clapped his hands and drew the oxygen away from the fire, which put it out almost immediately.   
  
"Very impressive, Flame Alchemist." A cold voice rang out. The charred part of the crate collapsed, leaving only a waist-height barrier. The Detonation Alchemist chuckled darkly, and the sound of his footsteps advanced toward them. "It'll be joyous indeed to finally take your life."  There was a noise like chalk scraping on the floor.   
  
"Get down, Ed!" Roy pushed Edward down behind the crate's remains and clapped his hands to erect a barrier, but he was too late. The explosion threw Roy backwards, and he pressed his hands to the floor just in time to encase Edward in a stone room before the ceiling of the warehouse fell.   
  
##------##   
  
Roy's eyes blinked open only to slam shut again. The room was so  _ bright _ . He focused on his breathing before tentatively opening his eyes again. Well, eye. His right eye was covered by something. Roy tried to shift his weight, but then a hand was on his chest and a voice was telling him to lay back down.   
  
"Hey there, bastard. How are you feeling?" Roy realised that it was Ed who was speaking to him. When he attempted to turn and look at Ed, however, pain shot through him and he winced. Ed moved to his left side and crouched down so they were at eye level. There was a frown on his face. "Can you breathe okay? How much does it hurt?"   
  
"It doesn't hurt if I don't move," Roy croaked. He looked down to find an IV taped to his hand. "and I can breath fine."   
  
"It's just fluids." Ed explained. "You've got a pretty bad second degree burn on your chest and abdomen, and a small one on your face. There were a couple of blisters, so Dr. McLaughlin wrapped you up." A worried look crossed his face, but Roy ignored it in favor of studying the IV is his hand.   
  
Roy sighed and shifted his left shoulder. Ed worried his lower lip between his teeth and moved some of Roy's hair out of his face. "It's been almost two weeks since the warehouse," he muttered. "I was... I was worried you wouldn't wake up."   
  
Roy sighed and carefully raised his left hand to Ed's face. "I wouldn't do that." A thought crossed his mind, and the corners of his lips curled. "Besides, you still owe me 520 cens."   
  
Ed laughed. "Not until you become fuhrer, bastard." Roy smiled up at him, and Ed grinned back.   
  
Just then the door opened, and in came a man wearing a white coat. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. He wore glasses; behind them his face was kind and his voice gentle as he introduced himself.   
  
"Hello, General Mustang. I'm Dr. Jason McLaughlin." Roy nodded as best he could.   
  
"Yes. Edward told me that I have extensive partial-thickness burns on my torso and a small one on my face." The doctor nodded and moved forward.   
  
"Indeed. Speaking of which, I need to check on your burns, and redress them as well if need be." He raised the bed until Roy was sitting up and began carefully unwrapping the bandages on Roy's face. "You don't seem very phased by this, General."   
  
Roy chuckled. "Not at all, Doctor. I play with fire for a living. I've recovered from worse burns than this." The man smiled as he removed the last of the bandages.   
  
"It looks good." McLaughlin said after a minute. "No swelling or discoloration. It was only really a minor burn anyway. You're in hospital for the burns on your chest and arm."   
  
"My... arm?" Roy looked down at the heavy bandages encasing his arm. Pain stabbed through his shoulder when he tried to lift it; the limb was uncooperative. "What's wrong with my arm?"   
  
McLaughlin mentally noted the slight nervousness in Mustang's voice. "The burns on your arm were full-thickness, or third degree. We did the best we could, especially considering the open blisters. However, I'm going to tell you now that if it's infected we may need to amputate."   
  
"Amputate?" Roy fought down his nausea and attempted to control his expression. McLaughlin nodded solemnly as he unwrapped the bandages around Roy's abdomen. He prodded at them, and Roy's muscles contracted at the contact.   
  
"Very good. The burns here seem to have healed well." McLaughlin reached up to begin unwrapping the bandages that encased Roy's shoulder. When he touched Roy's collarbone, Roy hissed in pain. McLaughlin frowned lightly and pulled away the dressings.   
  
The skin revealed was a blueish-purple color and looked leathery. Ed gasped in revulsion and Dr. McLaughlin reached over to the bedside table and hit the nurse call button. Three nurses bustled in and started moving equipment. "What's going on?" Roy asked, though he felt he already knew the answer. He was laid down on a gurney and rushed out of the room, an oxygen mask placed over his face.   
  
"The burns on your arm are severely infected. We're going to put you under and try an autograft before anything else, okay?" Roy nodded and gripped Ed's hand before being forced to let go by the nurses. "If the autograft is rejected, then we'll do an allograft. An allograft is temporary at best; because the skin is taken from a donor other than yourself, as with an autograft, it's more likely for your body to reject the graft. If the allograft fails, we'll do our best to subdue the infection and consult you about amputation."   
  
Roy nodded shakily and closed his eyes as a nurse put a drug into his IV. The world around him washed into blackness as the drug overtook him.   
  
##------##   
  
When Roy next woke, the room was dim. There were soft snores coming from a chair on his left, and he turned his head to find Edward curled awkwardly in what had to be an uncomfortable position on the chair. A light knock sounded at the door, and then Dr. McLaughlin shuffled in.   
"I see you're awake, General," the man whispered so as not to wake the sleeping blonde. "I'm    
afraid that there were a few complications with the skin graft surgeries."   
  
Mustang swallowed down the lump in his throat. "What happened?"   
  
Dr. McLaughlin sighed. "The damage from the burns is more extensive than we first thought. We found that the nerve endings in your arm, as well as much of the muscle and parts of the bones, are damaged beyond repair. We were able to give you antibiotics that will hold the infection at bay, but that won't last very long. Tomorrow morning you should consult with your family about amputation and, if you don't wish to retire from the military, perhaps you should look into getting outfitted with automail."   
  
Roy closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose with his functioning hand. "I most definitely do not plan on retiring any time soon. As soon as you mentioned the possibility of amputation I started thinking about automail. The rehabilitation would take a long time, but I'm sure it would be well worth it in the long run." McLaughlin nodded, then stood. "Thank you, Doctor."   
  
"Not a problem, General. As I said, consult with your family about your options. And if you've already been thinking about automail then you should get in touch with a mechanic, as well as a doctor who specializes in automail surgery. Goodnight, General."   
  
It wasn't until McLaughlin closed the door firmly behind him that Edward sat up and opened his eyes. "You want automail?" He asked. There was no anger in his voice, just wariness. "It's going to take a long time. Possibly years. Not to mention the fact that you'll have to relearn how to write, as well as not actually having automail until a month or two after the port surgery. Or port surgeries, plural. Or the mechanic you go to could be a fraud or something-"   
  
"Relax." Roy said in his General Voice. "I'm well aware that rehabilitation will take a couple of years, and I'd have to relearn how to write even with a normal prosthesis." He chuckled. "And besides, the mechanic I have in mind is very trustworthy and competent." Roy tucked a stray lock of golden hair behind Edward's ear.   
  
"Oh, yeah? Who?" Ed gave him a faux glare for playing with his hair. Roy smiled up at him and rested his hand on Ed's collarbone.   
  
"Miss Rockbell, of course. That is, if she has room for another client."   
  
Ed scoffed. " 'Course she does. Winry loves 'fresh meat', as she and Granny call it." Roy made a face, and Ed laughed. "She doesn't really call it that. She says 'new amputees', which is politically correct but can sound rude when she gets all excited about the automail she'll build for them."   
  
Roy sighed and looked down at his right arm. There was a prickling sensation in his shoulder, but he couldn't feel anything in the actual arm. He almost let himself get depressed over the fact that he was going to lose it; instead he thought of Edward's strength and determination when Truth took his limbs and his brother. Edward grinned down at him, and Roy shifted to lay back on the pillows.   
  
"I'm going to try to get some sleep. God knows I'll need it." Roy took in a deep breath and smiled at Ed before rolling over and falling asleep.


End file.
